This Time It's Real
by Aljan Moonfire
Summary: The last thing Bella wanted to do was fall for a vampire, again. But between shape-shifters and seemingly random imprints and her currently non-existent love-life; this time she doesn't seem to have much of a choice. And life mates are just the last straw... Now on hiatus and being rewritten.
1. The Life and Times of Didyme

"Hello" - speaking

'Hello' - thinking

(I have edited and combined what was previously chapters one and two. I hope you guys like the change. It certainly makes the first chapter longer.)

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**_Chapter I:_**

_The Life and Times of Didyme _

As a human Didyme had everything she could have ever wanted. She was the only child of a king, and he reigned over a relatively wealthy kingdom.* For a comparatively long time the royal family consisted of only herself and her father, her mother having died in childbirth and her father too heartbroken by his wife's death to have ever remarried. She was a spoiled child (as her father saw her as all that was left of her mother) and was second in power only to him. By the time she turned 15 she knew that her life was perfect. And she would do anything and everything in her power to make sure it stayed that way.

.-.

Her first stumbling block in this course of action was when her father fell in love for a second time. Her name was Europa** and she was beautiful. She was sweet. She was trusting. And ultimately she was stupid, because she trusted Didyme.

In Didyme's opinion the task was an easy one; all that had to be done was to lure the stupid girl out of her father's protection. A simple made up rendezvous using her father's name and the twit thought she was going to meet the King near the swamp to continue on to a nearby castle for some 'alone time'. What she met was the end of a dagger, and her last date was one with the creatures in said 'conveniently' nearby swamp.

Naturally her Father was very upset when he found his dear Europa's suicide letter stating that she was a simple woman that could not handle the demanding life of a queen. Of course Didyme wept for (and with) her beloved father, and consoled him in his time of need. Little did she know it would be said father that would pose her biggest problem.

.-.

"My dearest Didyme, I have something very important to talk to you about," the King said one evening at dinner. "Would you come to my study after the meal?" he asked.

"Of course, Father," she gave him one of her best smiles; the one that said 'you know, you're the most important person in my world', "I'll be there as soon as I'm finished eating."

.-.

Later that night in his study the King just observed his beautiful daughter for a time and couldn't believe how much she had come to resemble his first love. The golden strands of her hair shimmered in the firelight and her gray eyes looked almost black in the flickering light. Now that he thought on it even her body type resembled that of the only woman he would ever consider his true Queen. The only thing that she seemed to have inherited from him was his strong chin and charisma.

"So, Father what was it that you needed from me? You know all you need to do is ask and I'll do anything for you." She said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

'Although the almost worshipful adoration she seems to have for me worries me sometimes; it only adds to the almost painful resemblance she holds to…Her…and I really can't seem to protest too much.'

"My child, I am not getting any younger, and you know that I worry about you. It is about time that you settled into a good family, preferably royal, and I have found several suitors that I believe could be-"

She cut him off in an almost hysterical panic. "Father, did, did I do something wrong? Do you not love me anymore? Am I a nuisance?"

He could almost see her trying to find something she could have done to make him want to send her away. "No, Didyme I love you with all my heart, I'd do anything for you. That is why I am preparing for your future"

She began to sob. As he internally, and externally for that matter, began to panic a small part of him commented on yet another similarity between her and her mother. They both managed to look ridiculously attractive even when they cried.

"I", she gasped to regain the breath she had lost and managed a mostly coherent sentence, "I don't (tear) want to be separated from you. Not ever-"She broke down into incoherent sobbing at his feet; and his heart just about broke at the pain he seemed to be causing her.

"Oh, my sweetest angel the suitors can wait for a time, just don't cry." He reached down for her, pulled her half into his lap, and attempted to dry her tears the way he had when she was still a child. She leaned her head against his shoulder and began to calm down a bit. "Please don't cry, love."

"O-okay father, but, you still love me….right?"

He could tell that she seemed to need the reassurance. He held her close for a minute. "Of course I do darling." He briefly tightened the hug. "You're all I have," he finished lowly.

After a little while Didyme seemed to have regained her composure. After a more mundane conversation (and a complete subject change) Didyme finally said goodnight and began to leave. Right before she opened the door though, she turned to look back over her shoulder and said in a soft voice "I love you, Daddy" and he looked back at her and with uncharacteristically soft eyes said, "I love you too."***

.-.

As she strode down the hall to her wing of the castle Didyme began to think about what she should do about this newest, albeit not unexpected, twist. The way she saw it she had only two options if wanted to hold on to the power she had become accustomed to. First, she could marry one of the weaker willed suitors, manipulate him into killing her father, and then kill said husband herself…..but ultimately she decided that it would be easier in the long run to just inconspicuously off her father the first chance she gets.

With that decided she relaxed a bit and made her way a bit more leisurely to her rooms and a hot bath before bed, all the while absently pondering ways to kill her father. After all with him out of the way she wouldn't just be Princess Didyme anymore. Queen Didyme had an awfully nice ring to it in her opinion.****

.-.

After the ridiculous ease with which Didyme was able to slay Europa; she didn't think it would be all that much more difficult to murder the King. She was wrong.

She had eventually decided to go with poison.***** And her plan was both difficult and ridiculously simple, as is usually the case with such things. It was difficult in that acquiring an extremely deadly poison really is quite difficult when one is attempting to play the part of an angelic princess. But it was easy in that not only would just one drop suffice; but just like Europa, Didyme's father trusted her. Or at least that was how it was supposed to have been.

.-.

Now while the servants of any Royal Palace are trained to ignore certain things; like Nobles muttering to themselves or conspicuous stains on bed sheets, Princesses pouring poisonous liquids into their father's tea cup is one of the things they were to stop. So they did.

Naturally, once caught, even though she was found unaccountably guilty of many crimes including attempted murder and treason, Didyme managed to wiggle her way out of a permanent punishment (such as death) and into a less final one. In this case – Exile.******

As everything that she had worked to gain and to preserve came tumbling down around her ears, and Didyme mourned all that could have been as she and her few attendants made their way out of the country, she died.

.-.

When Didyme first began her journey from her father's lands she was quite depressed for a time. But after a few days she had decided that it could not be too hard to for her to blind another man with her beauty and false love, this time of the romantic kind though. By the time she finally passed the border she knew it would be easy enough to drape a veil over any man's eyes and entrap them in her deceptive web, it was her gift after all.

Alas though, that she hit another unseen bump in the road, and that bump was being attacked by a vampire…in the middle of the road. Ironic no?

At first she thought being turned into a vampire was a bad thing, the pain she went through and the death of what servants had decided to come with her only strengthened that misconception. But the power, the beauty,******* and the sheer strength of her new form soon washed away all such preconceptions. And when she came to know her true power she knew that with this ability nothing was out of her reach.

She knew that with such power came great possibilities. For unlike other normal vampires she gained a great gift. This talent allowed her to cause a false emotion in those around her. She could make another hate her beyond all reason, or love her until the world's end. She could make someone believe that she was the love of their life or their worst enemy. It seemed that what gifts for manipulation she had had in her human life had extended and amplified themselves to a ridiculous degree in her vampire one. The only limit that there seemed to be to her power was that she could only use it once on an individual person, eye contact was needed, and once nullified said emotion for her could never be rekindled

She used these powers to her own advantage, and tried to rise up in the vampire world. For a time she thought she had been making progress; she had become known for bringing happiness to all those that met her, for capturing the hearts of those who saw her. In reality though they were her pawns and blindly did everything that she wanted of them. They thought she loved them, and they were hers. They thought of her as a sister, a mother, a best friend, their one and only true love, and she thought of them as tools.

It was only when she learned of the Volturi, over one hundred years after her death, that she realized how ignorant she truly was of vampire society. Here she thought that she was a powerful figure with anyone she met at her whim, when she could have had a Volturi leader at her beck and call.

She had to plan carefully, find out where a weakness lied and she found it in him, Marcus Volturi. She had to know what kind of powers the Volturi had, and soon came to the conclusion that she would have to work fast at catching the idiot, and make sure that his elder brother would never lay a hand on her.

The day she set foot in Volterra for the first time was the day she started a new life. One in which she knew she would have to hide her true self. She could not use others, she could not be greedy, and she would even have to pretend to have remorse after a meal.

Of course it was also on this day, that she would met meet her new mar...err ahem…mate.

.-.

'Marcus, Marcus, Marcus…I've got to remember his name…' Didyme thought as she waited for her audience with the foremost leaders of the vampire world.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the large doors to her right. A male guard that she knew was already beneath her spell walked through the now open door and bowed.

"They will see you now, my lady." As he said this she stood, checked her appearance in a nearby mirror, and nodded regally to show that she was prepared to enter.

As she walked into the Great Hall of the Volturi lords she discretely took a glance around the room. The large hall was filled with quite a few vampires. Some were clearly guards and others were quite obviously high end nobles. The room was built out of stone and extravagant tapestries in dark colors were hung at regular intervals on one side of the room. The other side of the magnificent hall opened out onto a beautful garden with walkways lined with roses of many different colors. The floor was covered by a plush Persian rug made out of a blood red, silvery white and shadowy black pattern. At the other end of the hall on a raised dais sat three rather magnificent thrones. And in them, sat the Volturi.********

In the middle throne sat the most physically delicate seeming of the three lords. Long dark hair that reached his waist, chalky white skin, and unsettling milky red eyes characterized his appearance as he seemed to analyze hers. By his positioning she assumed that this was Aro, the main leader of the Volturi coven. The other two she couldn't positively identify, but their appearances were just as striking. On his left sat a tall, rather muscular man with shocking white hair and bright red eyes. He was just as handsome as his fellow leader and his frown as he looked at her was rather confusing. On his right sat the last of them with long jet black hair and hooded wine red eyes. He wasn't even looking at her, which she found rather off-putting and seemed bored with the whole situation.

As she approached the three men and gave a deep curtsy Aro rose and gave her a wide smile. "A guest!" he exclaimed, "It's wonderful that you should stop to visit our humble abode."

'Oh my, this is the leader of the Volturi? My informant mentioned that he was rather eccentric, but this is… Oh well, he really isn't my objective anyway. I should probably just ignore it.' She opened her mouth to reply, "It is an honor to meet you Master Aro, and the rest of the Volturi. I must admit I was a bit embarrassed to find that such a fraction has existed for so long, and I am just barely finding out about and visiting you." 'There,' she thought, 'that should be humble enough.'

"Oh, My dear there is no need for you to be embarrassed," he giggled a bit, "information on us is not spread unless there is need for a punishment…and either way there is no need to be so formal please call me just call me Aro."

He turned and with two negligent waves of his hand he introduced the ones behind him who were still seated. "These two are my brothers, Caius," He motioned to the man with white hair, "and Marcus," he gestured to the other.

She gave him a gentle smile and said, "And my name is Didyme." Her thoughts were on a different track though. 'I think something must have gone wrong when Aro was turned, I mean who has ever heard of a giggling male vampire. So, slouched, pale, and gloomy is my target…I think this will work out quite smoothly.'

Didyme moved forward a bit and gave a graceful curtsy to Caius. "Master Caius it is an honor to meet you" He simply narrowed his eyes and gave a deep growl. Expertly hiding how that unnerved her, she moved over to the right and turned to Marcus as if to get a good look at him. She once again began to curtsy but paused mid way, looking back up at him with awestruck eyes. She began to speak but stumbled into a stutter. "I...I…it is an h-honor for meeting and umm…no w-wait...what is…"

"Is something wrong Didyme?" asked Aro.

"No, Aro," she turned her head to glance at him then went right back to gazing at Marcus as if she couldn't take her eyes off him for more than a second. "It-it's just that I…I've never felt this type of pull to another before. It's like my heart; my very soul feels a tug towards him." When they heard what she was describing gasps spread throughout the room, and like lightning Marcus whipped his head around to look at her, meeting her own red eyes.

She was glad to have heard stories about the pull a vampire will feel towards his or her mate, because now that the fool has looked into her eyes all he will ever love, ever want is her, for all eternity should she desire it. He won't even use his power to see that the two have no connection at all as mates; he will never, ever question his love for her after this.

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* - The name of said kingdom isn't really important. Just know existed around 2500 years ago.

** **- **Believe me, the name doesn't mean anything special. I just thought that Didyme sounded Greek and picked at random from a Greek myth.

*** - I apologize for this scene. I had planned to just explain what had happened but it wouldn't let me write it that way. I eventually just decided to use it as a way to show how manipulative she can be so you, my dear readers, don't think our dear Volturi leaders are being idiots when they don't see what a bitch she is right away.

**** - The mad laughter that ran through her head with that thought would have gotten her some strange looks had any of the servants been able to hear it

***** - The other options that she had a lot of fun pondering are much to gruesome to even mention

****** -If you want an example of what she does to get such leniency go back to the scene mentioned in the 3rd cliff note.

******* - We all know that the girl is at least partly insane, now you also know that she's ridiculously vain.

******** - I couldn't exactly remember what their little throne room looked like so I made up my own.

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(I have decided to keep my orginal Author's Notes here for your veiwing pleasure... Please read them, and the additional one I shall put at the bottom of this chapter.)

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Alright! My first fanfiction! Banzai! Banzai!

Well now that my mini celebration is over *smiles wryly* I have a few things to say to my readers (my first Author's Note too!):

First: the disclaimer I forgot at the beginning. **Aljan Moonfire Does not own Twilight. Stephanie Meyer does. Believe you me, if I owned it Jacob would not have become a pedophile.**

Second: I got my inspiration for this fic from another one that I read awhile ago. As of now I can't even remember what it was called or who wrote it, so if I ended up copying any of the ideas from that story by accident I humbly apologize.

Third: I know that I marked this as a Bella/Marcus fic and that's what it is and will be. However just from how long this first chapter is when I didn't even mean to expand too much on Didyme's background I know that it will be awhile before I get around even writing their first meeting. (Even though I do have it all planned out) But please bear with me!

And Last: (but certainly not least) I would like to thank all of the people who encouraged me to finally post this including (but not limited to) my family (well mostly my little sister) and my cat, who always seems to jump on me, or at least distract me, when I get to frustrated about how a story isn't coming together.

- Aljan Moonfire

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(The Author's Note for what was the second chapter. Enjoy.)

Alright! Another chapter!

Now for the author's note:

First: When I first started this story I hadn't read through all of the Twilight books for over half a year, so I had forgotten some of the more minor details; like the fact that in canon, Didyme is Aro's sister. I just needed Didyme to be a bad guy. T_T. So just a fair warning some of this story from this point on is going to be quite AU-ish so no flaming - I have now warned you.

Second: If any of you are wondering when Bella will be coming into the story, it should be in the next three chapters or so. I'll probably have one chapter illustrating that last scene from Aro, and the rest of the Volturi's, point of view, then another with Didyme's death, and then then what will be happening with Bella will start. When I started writing this I only ment for Didyme's life to be a prolouge!

Last: I'll be starting college next week soooo I'll try to get a few more chapters out before then but after that they might slow down a bit.

P. S. Please give me some reveiws I want to know what people think of this story and my writing style and if I should continue this for too long.

- Aljan Moonfire

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Alright! and here is your final Author's Note...**PLEASE READ! THIS IS IMPORTANT PEOPLES! ***clears throat* well, hopefully that got your attention...

First: I had orginally decided to separate this into two chapters; one with her human life and one with her vampire life. It worked out well enough but I also think that I got less readers than I would've had I just left it alone. The result is this! (I really hope I get some reveiws out of this...)

Last: I apologize for how long it took me to do anything with this story. Over a month! Sadly enough, Real Life intervened. I have just managed to finish my mid-term asignments so hopefully I will be update a bit more regularly for a while. Hopefully.

Well that was kinda short... It was important though! and if I don't get some more reviews after I post the next chapter I may go on strike! *goes and sulks about only geting 19 reviews all told...*


	2. On the Other Side of Things

_**Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer, not Aljan Moonfire.**_

"Hello" - speaking

'Hello' - thinking

(After I moved the wo previous chapters together, you might think I'd change this one too. Well, sorry, but no. The only thing I've changed about this is the title and placement...)

**Read on, my friends, read on**

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_**_Chapter 2:_**

_On the Other Side of Things..._

Marcus Volturi was what Aro referred to as a hopeless romantic. He spent his entire human life, from the time he first reached puberty to the day he was turned looking for that one woman that would become the other half of his soul. He never found her. Once he was turned he became a bit looser with his affections and had quite a few affairs with other vampires but no matter who he became involved with or looked at with his gift he never found 'The One'.

Marcus watched as his brothers found their mates and fought for that blissful feeling that he had always longed for. It hurt him more than he would ever admit that they had the one thing that he had always longed for, and the one thing that he was beginning to think that he would never find. As the centuries passed a part of him began to die as that one person never came.

.-.

Aro looked at his two brothers in all but blood over the graceful round table in the center of their communal study. The color scheme of the room they sat in matched that of their public hall, the three colors each representing the personalities and preferences of the three men. The brooding black characterized Marcus to a tee as he sat there in all his moody glory, seemingly half asleep as he regarded his unofficial superior across back of his lounging chaise. Caius, in his characteristic grumpy fashion, glared at the paperwork scattered across the table, wondering where the hell it all came from, because if he wasn't a vampire he knew that he wouldn't remember what the table it sat on looked like, seeing as the last time he saw it bare was when it was first placed in the room i.e. over a hundred years ago now.(1) He was sprawled out in a comfortable fashion in a red plush loveseat, his white hair contrasting sharply with the bloody red color he preferred.

Aro himself sat in his own armchair absently wondering to himself how the silvery white colors he honestly preferred represented his own personality to anyone. He thought that the color was far too pure for one as tainted as himself, but those around him, including his most beloved mate, seem to disagree; and who was he to argue if it allowed him to put his favorite color just about everywhere somehow.

He gave an unneeded sigh as he reached over to the table and chose a piece of paper from the top of the pile in the center and drew it closer in order to read. He smiled brightly as he read what was written, and ignored them as his two brothers tensed and looked at him warily.

"It seems," he announced cheerfully, "that we will be having a visitor soon." He was honestly very happy to have a source of amusement such as the woman described in the report be coming to him instead of him having to search her out. What information his spies had been able to glean about her were very positive indeed and he immediately resolved to find some way to keep her around.

With that rather ominous, if cheerfully delivered statement Caius looked up at Aro's cheerful countenance warily. He could still remember when Aro said the same sort of thing about any army invading their city. "Give it to me," he demanded and furrowed his eyebrows in an annoyed manner when Aro tossed it to Marcus instead.

As Aro continued to tease Caius, Marcus looked down at the report he had caught and sighed loud enough to catch the attention of his bickering brothers

"It's just a woman," he told Caius in an irritated way. "It's nothing to get so worked up about." With that statement he tossed the document to Caius and laid back down resolving to attempt to ignore the other two in the room for the rest of the day if he could.

Aro and Caius, both interrupted mid sentence, threw mild glares at Marcus's back, and Caius snatched the paper out of the air before Aro could take it back to torment him with. As he finished reading he snorted. "So it is. Why are you so excited then?"

Aro relaxed back into his armchair and began to speak. "Didn't you notice? Every single piece of information that we have received on her is positive. It's like everyone who meets her automatically loves her. Isn't that a bit disconcerting? I'm thinking that she might have some sort of power over the emotions. It would certainly be interesting if she did." He then turned his head minutely in Marcus's direction. "On another hand, well…I'm sure you understand." Caius nodded.

It had been well over six hundred years now since they had first been turned, and Marcus still hadn't found his mate. They knew that despite his lazy façade their brother was beginning to get desperate. If this Didyme could be his one and only, a little audience was the least they could do to help him out.

.-.

One day, about a week after that conversation the three brothers received word that the woman they had previously been speaking about had arrived, and was waiting on their pleasure for an audience.

As he sent a relatively nondescript guard to get the current subject of his ponderings, he turned to his fellows and asked, "What do you think she'll be like?"

Marcus shrugged and turned to rest his head on the heel of his hand, seeming to ignore the whole affair. "I don't really care." He said and thought, 'It's not like she'll be Her. And I really don't see why Aro's making such a big deal out of it.'

Caius on his other side just grunted and glared at the still closed doors on the other side of the hall. 'This woman really better be worth all of this trouble'. As he thought this the doors finally opened and Didyme made her first appearance to the Volturi.

.-.

She was draped in soft green robes that fell to the top of her feet and were secured with simple gold braid. Her feet were wrapped in simple slippers made of a fabric just a bit darker than the rest of her outfit. As her long, graceful limbs carried her across the massive room the golden strands of her long hair was brought to attention, bound simply away from her face with braids, it followed and outlined her every movement.

As she began to give her greetings to the three vampire lords, conversations erupted around the room commenting on this newcomer.

.-.

As the blonde vampire made her way towards them the three lords each had very different reactions. Caius thought she looked like a pretty toy that could be quite easily broken. He found himself wondering what her screams would sound like as he tore her limb from limb. Marcus really didn't think much of her at all seeing as he hadn't even turned from the oh so fascinating wall to his right to even look at her. Aro, well he would reserve judgment until after he touched her. As she bowed and he began to stand he wondered what kind of power she had.

.-.

As he looked into her mesmerizing eyes for the first time Marcus 'knew' that she was The One. The one he would love and cherish and do anything for. The sad part was; she knew it too.

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(1) Paperwork is not only invincible and omnipresent; but it will find you anywhere; even, apparently in Volterra. Honestly Caius would much rather be out killing something, or at the very least burning some paperwork.

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Ah! Another day! Another chapter!

Well...on to the author's note!

First: I know your probably surprized that I got this out so soon but I was hit with a landslde of inspiration at three o'clock this morning and couldn't resist. Since it would have just languished on my computer anyway I decided to post it, and here we are.

Second: I'll probably have chapter four posted by the end of the day. That chapter will proably be my longest yet unless I decide to split it into two different chapters.

Third: Does anyone remember the exact spellings for Aro and Caius' wives' names? I can never seem to get them right and as a result I haven't done anything but mention them in passing.

Last: Please, please reveiw. I really want to get some good feedback from this story! (Edit: I mean it about the review thing!)

- Aljan Moonfire


	3. The End of Didyme

_**Aljan Moonfire does not own Twilight. It belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**_

"Hello" - speaking

'Hello' - thinking

**Read on, my friends, read on** _

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**_Chapter 3:_**

_The End of Didyme _

Happy. If Marcus could sum everything that he was feeling right now that is what it would be. It had been almost two centuries since the day he first met his queen he couldn't remember a time when he had felt as happy as he did now. He remembered when he thought his eternity would have to be spent alone. The spite and yearning of those times was almost incomprehensible, even to him. Spite for his brothers that had found their mates and a deep yearning for what they had, a mate, their other half...a life filled with the happiness he felt now. Even that sour faced Caius is sometimes unable to hide the joy he feels when with his mate.

When Didyme came here Marcus' disposition changed, and she is all he ever has on his mind now. And he couldn't be happier for it. He no longer believed that he was meant to be alone, he was meant to love, to worship, to adore his queen, his Didyme.

.-.

It would be another century until Aro, by accident, brushed his hand on Didyme's bare shoulder. It was in that instant that all her memories and all of her scheming came into plain view.

Didyme, the love of Marcus' existence was nothing more than a manipulating vampire with nothing, but power on her mind. When he finally reached the part where her power came into full view he was disgusted. He stayed in contact only long enough for her plans to come to mind before he ended the connection and disappeared before she realized what had happened.

After Aro viewed her thoughts and memories he locked himself away in his chambers. His only thoughts were of the vampire, the woman he had for so long viewed as a sister, and the realization that she would have to be killed. He knew the necessity of what would happen, but he also knew that his most emotionally fragile brother would be devastated beyond repair.* Aro could not help hating himself for not checking Didyme before any of this had happened, but Marcus would not allow his brother to view his mate's mind. He now knew beyond all doubt that this, and much else, was Didyme's work. However much this would pain his beloved family, Aro knew he had a duty to said family and the entirety of the vampire world, to never allow her ambitions to come to fruition.

That she had been planning the assassination of Caius, really just sealed the coffin.

With this less than pleasant thought he finally left his chambers and called for a meeting between the brothers in their private communal study.

.-.

Once all three of them had cloistered themselves in their study Caius opened his mouth to speak.

Before he could make a sound Aro made a statement that shocked the other two into speechless silence. "We have a traitor among our people."

This time Marcus was the one to speak up. "Who. Who would dare to betray us?"

Aro simply held out his hands and motioned for them to hold on to them. When they didn't do so and simply looked at him strangely he sighed, and said, "You will not believe me if I simply tell you, so I will show you instead." They looked at him in shock.

"Are you sure?" asked Caius "You should know better than anyone the stress those two techniques place on your body."

"Yes." He replied, the serious look on his face enhancing the gravity of the statement. "This is very important."

What was unknown to the majority of the vampire world was that Aro's ability encompassed three parts. However much like how Didyme rarely, if ever made somebody hate her; Aro hardly ever used the other parts of his power, the stress they placed on even his vampire body making it too taxing to use on a daily basis. In fact the only people who knew about the other facets of his power were in the room with him.

The three sides of his power could be described thusly:

Absorption – The ability to, when touching someone see every thought that that they have ever had, every memory is seen and studied, until he knows you better than even you know yourself. As this is the one power Aro can't turn off and on at will he is unable to even touch his mate without her whole life being thrown at his head. He often wishes to find someone that he isn't able to read. It would be a relief.

Rejection – The ability to, at will and when touching another, show them something he has absorbed through his other ability. He can't use it to allow others to view his own life and experiences though. He is unable to use this ability more than five times a day without running out of energy and needing to consume more blood.

Negation – This ability allows Aro to, when touching another's forehead, negate any and all mental control and conditioning someone has placed on another. This ability uses up the most energy by a landslide. Aro can only use it once a week, before going into a blood rage and immediately taking the life of the closest living thing.

The other two Volturi leaders reached out to grab his hands and almost immediately their eyes widened in shock. A full two minutes later Marcus stumbled back in horror, as Caius slowly removed his hand from Aro's grip.

"You understand then," Aro said quietly, drawing back to look the other two shocked lords in the eye. "What must be done." It wasn't a question.

Caius nodded gravely, a slowly growing rage apparent in his eyes. "Yes." He replied, thinking rather gruesome thoughts. 'I guess I'll get to find out what her screams are like after all.'

Marcus turned away slightly and didn't make a sound for a few minutes. When he turned back his face was very still but his eyes held an immense amount of pain. "Yes, I do, but I am finding this very hard to believe." He paused, almost hesitating for a bit before hardening his resolve. "Will you please use your third technique on me so that I may be sure?" If his carefully worded question didn't show how much this was affecting him then nothing did.

"Of course." He replied immediately. "I had planned on doing so anyway. I honestly wasn't too sure what your reaction would be. She had had to devote most of her power to keeping you sealed and you honestly could have done anything from attacking me to attempting commit suicide."

Marcus nodded thoughtfully and turned away again. "Should we just get this over with then?" he asked.

Aro's answer was apparent as he flopped down onto the carpet and motioned for the other two to join him. Marcus joined him on the floor as Caius collapsed into Aro's ridiculously comfortably armchair. Aro took one of Marcus' hands into his own and then placed the tips of the index and middle fingers of his other hand in the middle of Marcus' forehead.

Aro looked directly into the eyes across from his own and said, "We will proceed then. Do not interrupt." The last part was obviously meant for Caius.

.-.

It was over an hour before the two came out their trance. Aro collapsed backward as Marcus pulled away from him waiting for Aro to recover a bit before he began to use his own power.

Caius leaned forward a bit in his chair and frowned in concern. "Are you alright, Aro?" he asked.

"Yes. I will definitely need some blood after this though." A few seconds after he replied he rose and took Caius' loveseat as a place to continue resting.

Marcus himself stood and closed his eyes resolving to go through his memories of Didyme before he looked for their connection, hoping that what he would see would place things in perspective for him. What he found when he looked with his now clear eyes horrified him. That she could have treated him that way, and that more importantly he _let_ her, and was happy for it…the embarrassment and disgust and depression that the memories evoked in him was almost overwhelming.

He then turned to his power hoping and praying that the abhorrent woman was not and never would be his true life mate. What he saw at this point was more of a relief than anything else. That he wasn't connected to her in anyway and that there were even growing signs of antipathy on his end of things was an immense release. He closed his eyes and sighed.

Aro and Caius looked up at him. "Well?"

"She will die. Honestly at this point, I just want this to be over with." His reply was met with relived smiles from the other two lords.

"Tomorrow night then?" asked Caius for confirmation.

"Yes, tomorrow night." With this final statement Aro rose and left to look for some blood to replenish his energy, Caius departed muttering about torture techniques under his breath and Marcus collapsed onto his lounging chaise resolving not to leave the study until the meeting he knew Aro would call in twenty-four hours.**

.-.

When Aro called the coven together in the throne room his face was gave and the stoic countenances of his brothers on either side of him only enhanced the impression that this was to be a serious meeting. The bare floor and the bonfire in the center of the room told them that this was to be a public execution.

Whispers ran throughout the room, wondering who was going to die and who would kill them.

Aro stood and opened his mouth to speak. "Bring me Didyme." he said. A shocked silence spread through the room.

.-.

Didyme rushed toward the throne room wondering how she could have possibly been late for this important meeting. How come Marcus hadn't warned her? She had told him to tell her everything that the three leaders had planned. She was beginning to have a bad feeling about this, but it was too late to worry about it now. She paused in front of the same mirror she had first used to check her appearance on that day so long ago and fixed her hair. She then turned to the large doors to open them.

As she entered the great room the shocked silence that had just fallen deepened. She looked around in confusion and the horrified faces of Athenodora and Sulpicia jumped out at her from the surrounding vampires. Just as she began to step back from the stares pointed at her two rather muscled guards grabbed her upper arms and dragged her to the dais at the other end of the room.

As she was half thrown at the feet of the three rulers and she looked up at them through her hair, what she saw in Aro and Caius' glares raised the hairs on the back of her neck. She then turned to Marcus. The unreadable expression on his face made her eyes widen and she checked the connection she had forged between them. It was gone, as if it had never been there. 'No! They know! How could they know! I was so careful…and how could they have broken my spell? I thought it was impossible for anyone but me to do that!'

She only then noticed the bonfire and the bare floor and realized that they intended to kill her.***

.-.

Marcus looked down on the woman he had once considered to be the love of his unending life, and was disgusted. Had he really been even remotely attracted to this creature? He was relieved, as he looked down at her, that he was no longer tied to the caricature of a woman that kneeled before them.

As Marcus examined her appearance with his now unclouded eyes, it was as if he was really seeing her for the first time. The perfection that he had always been made to see was gone and in its place was…this.

The woman he was looking at was thin, almost sickly looking and had almost no chest to speak of. He had never been attracted to that kind of body type, and doubted he ever would. A woman was supposed to have curves, not resemble a stick. With the kind of robes she was wearing she appeared flat in both the front and the back. Her hair, that _blonde_ hair; how had he missed that? He had always thought dark hair and pale skin suited a woman best; just like his only vaguely remembered mother. The thin lips and plain moon shaped face only strengthened his revulsion.

The worst part though was those eyes. Those shallow, flat eyes displayed a cold, heartless, empty monster living behind them. He could not look anymore. He had to avert his eyes. Centuries of his life and years of his love and devotion were wasted on this hag. Then it really hit him; this was his life. He had only ever yearned for one thing throughout his seemingly endless existence, and that was a mate. He had always wanted a woman that he could not live without, a woman that would make his life worth living, and instead he was dealt Didyme. What had he done to deserve this? Was his happiness such a hard thing to ask for?

"Aro…Caius…Why…?" he asked softly, even rather helplessly.

Aro took his hand, his eyes then widening in understanding. "I'm very deeply sorry my brother. Just like you I truly wish that this had never happened. I have always wanted you to have your happily ever after, but…"

Caius then spoke up. "What is done is done. All that we need to worry about now is dealing with that snake."

Aro nodded his agreement and then turned back to Marcus. "If you need to leave Caius and I can resolve this problem without you, Marcus."

"No..." he muttered under his breath. 'I need to see her die. It will hopefully give me some closure.' "No." he said more firmly. "This is something I need to see."

"As you wish, brother." Aro turned to face his audience. He stood and raised his voice so everyone in the Hall could hear him. "Now, I am sure everyone wants to know what is going on, so I will give all of you the short version, and then a punishment will be decided by Caius, Marcus, and myself."****

"We have an imposter among us. The one in whom we thought we had a friend, a sister, a mother, a…wife…we instead had a conniving-"

"Bitch." interrupted Caius.

"Caius, please." Aro shot him a look as the corner of his mouth twitched. 'Even if that is a very accurate description…'

"As you might have guessed the woman I speak of is Didyme Volturi." Gasps spread through room, the inhabitants of which were clearly shocked.

"What are you talking about Aro? What could I have possibly done to deserve this?" Her shocked plea covered up her frenzied thoughts. 'Just play innocent for now. I'll attempt to make my move after I know just how much damage has been done to my plans.'

"Hold your tongue, whore, before I rip it out." Caius' hissed threat echoed around the room.

Aro continued, ignoring them both. "Didyme has been manipulating Marcus with what powers she has, her goal to destroy the very fabric of the Volturi and the Vampire World. This crime merits the punishment of death, the manner in which the death shall be carried out will be voted upon by the-"

He was cut of again, this time by Didyme, her cries panicked as she reached out to Marcus. "That is a lie Aro! Marcus you know I love you and you love me. Tell them they are wrong, please!" Her thoughts were just as panicked as her words, 'I can't believe they have discovered this much! Even if my hold over him is broken Marcus is my only hope of getting out of this mess before I die!'

She began to attempt to stand as she continued. "Marcus, I don't know what lies these two have filled your head with, but you should know the only plans I had were to get away from all this. Don't you see what they are doing; they are trying to turn you against me, trying to control you. Look at me Marc-aaaahhh!"

Caius was suddenly before her glaring sharply down at her as she collapsed again, blood spilling from the hands covering her mouth as the tongue he had torn from it was thrown into the bonfire

"I gave you fair warning about holding your damn tongue, and now I'll keep it for you! Those eyes are next." His threat and actions were once again ignored by Aro as he continued his little speech.

"As I was saying, this crime merits the punishment of death, the manner in which the death shall be carried out will be voted upon by the three of us. Personally," His eyes were cold and unfeeling as they looked down on her as if she were simply a bug that hadn't yet been crushed. "I wish you a long and painful eternity in our torture chambers."

He then turned away from her, motioning for the guards to make sure she stayed put while they conferred together.

.-.

Caius spoke up immediately after they ensured no one else could hear them. "We should torture her for as long as her pathetic body will hold out. I suppose that once her mind breaks we can off her though. I want her aware of everything we do to her."

Aro nodded in agreement, "I agr-"

He was cut of by Marcus. "I don't care as much as you two do about causing her pain. I just want her gone. That woman is my greatest embarrassment. That she even exists offends me, and I want her dead by the time the sun rises. I don't care how painful you make her death, I just want her gone."

The other two nodded thoughtfully, and then Aro made a suggestion. "We could rip off her body parts one by one and throw them in the bonfire while she still has feeling in them? That way her death will be long and painful but she'll still be dead by the time the sun rises." The others nodded in agreement.

Marcus then began to speak, "I won't participate though. I'll come back at sunrise to ensure her death, but I myself won't contribute." Aro nodded his permission of that course of action and then they moved back to give the coven their decision.

.-.

As the three leaders came forward to the front of the dais, Didyme looked up in a strange combination of dread and hope. When Aro began to speak though, any and all hope that she may live through this after all died a horrible death.

"It has been decided. Didyme shall die, tonight, by fire." The sentence was given.

Caius then moved forward and smiled a cruel, sadistic smile. He then motioned to the two forgotten guards that had brought her forward and bore witness to all that had happened. "You two, hold her down." And then to Didyme, with a smirk. "Believe me; I will make this as painful as possible."

She opened her mouth in a wordless scream as he began to tear off her fingers one by one and burn them.

.-.

Nobody aside from Aro noticed Marcus had left with the first scream.

Just like nobody aside from his brothers knew that he returned to the throne room afterward as the sun began to rise.

As he sat there pondering the last few centuries of his life, ones wasted on the monster that had died a mere hour before, a part of him died. The part of him that had hoped and prayed for that other half of his soul. The part of him that hated his brothers for having something he knew he never would. The part of him that loved and would have thrown all of his being into loving another, that part of his soul died.

And as the sun spread into the room through the great archways to one side, some of the life left his wine red eyes. And apathy moved over his countenance.

After that day Marcus, and by extension Volterra and the Volturi, was never the same.

* * *

* - Can anyone say Catch 22?

** - That he had no idea what he might say or do to Didyme once he saw her had no bearing on his decision. Really.

*** - The rather descriptive swear words that ran through her mind at this point should never be used in polite company.

**** - The torture techniques that came from this sentence were the more sadistic elder brothers of those of the Middle Ages.

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Alight! Yet another chapter brought to you by moi!

And on to the author's note...

First: I have decided to add The End of Didyme (Part 2) to this! Did you cheer when she died? I know I did.

Second: Next we have a breif insert from Carlisle and then we'll finally move on to Bella's side of things.

Last: Pease Review! I really want to know what people think of this story! It is my first afterall. (Edit: REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!) More than three words would be a wonderful gift.

- Aljan Monfire -


	4. Interlude: A Misuderstanding

_**I don't mutilate Twilight. Stephanie Meyer does that well enough on her own. **_

"Hello" - speaking

"Hello" - thinking

(No editing needed here... This one is supposed to be short.)

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**_Chapter 4:_**

_Interlude: A Misunderstanding_

_**1900 years after Didyme's death - the 1700's**_

Carlisle had heard about the Volturi of course, the ruling class of vampires, but he would have never thought that so many of the rumors were true.

Their power was immense: the amount and variety of gifted vampires, shocking. He stayed with the Volturi for close to 100 years and became very close friends with Aro and, at the very least, amiable acquaintances with Caius. But Marcus; even for all those years he never heard him speak more than a few sentences at a time, and that rarely.

It wasn't until he realized that soon he should be moving on that he became at all curious about Marcus. It wasn't until he spoke about it with a new recruit, he believed his name was Felix, that he learned of the cruelty done to Marcus.

"Apparently," he said, "Marcus' mate, Didyme, wanted to take Marcus away from Volterra to live a more peaceful life; just the two of them. (1) When Aro discovered this he gathered all the Volturi members, and demonstrated what happens when someone tries to break apart the Volturi brothers."

He paused here, shrugged, and then continued, "Didyme begged Marcus to leave with her, and Marcus was helpless to do anything but watch as his brother ripped apart and burned his mate in front of his very eyes.(2) It is said that on that day Marcus gave up on any kind of a future that would have happiness in it, despairing that he would ever be whole again."

"Is that really what happened Felix?" asked Carlisle. 'I cannot believe that Aro, and even Caius could ever be that cruel to their brother.'

"You can ask the boss men about it yourself - just don't ask in front of Marcus. Last time someone mentioned her name in front of him, I swear he looked a little more dead…kind of guilty looking too now that I think on it, but then again, I could have just imagined it. He usually looks the same, you know, bored with our un-life."

At first Carlisle refused to believe his friend could commit such an atrocity, but eventually his curiosity got the better of him. He made sure to wait until he was alone with Aro and Caius to ask about Didyme though. At the mention of her name their eyes became as cold as ice, anger taking over their features.

"If you ask me than woman was waste of vampire life, she should have been kept alive and tortured 'till the end of time; in order to show others the futility of trying to destroy the Volturi in such a way."

"I must agree with you there, Caius. Her relatively quick death was far too merciful for one such as her." Aro replied.

That the man Carlisle had been coming to see as a brother of sorts would say such a thing was truly shocking to him. That Aro's seemingly honest and family oriented character could hide such ruthlessness and blood thirst horrified him. However, he carefully masked his feelings as he listened to Aro and Caius trade ideas for the torture that should have been inflicted on the poor woman.(3). It was only a few minutes later that he excused himself, not being able to stand listening to such things anymore.

Carlisle left Volterra within a week of that fateful misunderstanding.

* * *

(1) Remember the rather desperate rambling she inflicted on our poor ears? Well this is what many of the others in the room saw it as.

(2) Also remember that not many people noticed that he left after the first scream.

(3) Once again, understand that this is the heart of the misunderstanding and that Carlisle doesn't know the real story, so his reaction at this point is quite understandable, considering.

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Author's Note

First: Here you go - that chapter from Carlisle's point of veiw that I was promising you.

Second: I should have another chapter out soon.

Third: Celebrate! In said chapter we will finally get to Bella! A warning, she might be a bit out of character though. I always felt a bit insulted by her reaction to Edward's leaving in New Moon. ( *scowl* How DARE Meyer insult my image of her by making her react like that!) Sooo...I'm fixing it. *smirk*

Last: Review! Pleaseeeeeee? *ultimate puppy-dog-eyes attack* with sugar, and gumdrops, and chocolate, and any other sweet you can think of AND cherries on top! (you only get that good stuff if you review though ya know)

- Aljan Moonfire -


	5. Realizations

_**Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Not me. *goes off to sulk***_

"Hello" - speaking

'Hello' - thinking

(No editing here either... This has got to be my favorite chappie though.)

* * *

**_Chapter 5:_**

_Realizations_

Edward disappeared, leaving just a whisper behind.

'Goodbye'.

He said goodbye. He left her. He was gone – 'But he said he would never leave me!' a part of her screamed. He…_he didn't love her anymore. _'If he ever did in the first place' a little voice murmured cynically in the back of her head.

He left her…He left her alone after telling her she was nothing but a distraction. A toy. He should have known better than to leave Bella, who never exactly seemed to follow her instincts when it came to sensible things like this in the first place, in the woods after telling her something like that.

She reached out as if to run after him and then pulled back as if burned and stumbled deeper into the dark woods, fully in shock.

'He didn't love me.' The thought replayed over and over in her head. 'How could he just…no,' she shook her head, now fully immersed in her depression. 'I don't have to wonder. I always knew I wasn't good enough for Him, my perfect – no not mine, not ever again.' She choked on a sob. 'I never deserved Ed – no.' she cut off her thoughts before she could even think his name. '…...Him. After all; I'm just pathetic, clumsy, ugly, and human - how could I ever measure up to Him and His _perfect_ family.' There was defiantly some bitterness there.

Her thoughts continued in this vein for a while, as if stuck in a rut. 'I thought I had finally found a place I belonged – a person and a life to devote myself to. Thought I might have gained some value, I guess, but now I can see the truth; as long as he doesn't want me - wait a second -' a part of her interjected, the part of her she had been repressing ever since she met and fell in love with Him. The part of her that was never really a child, that had taken care of herself _and _her ridiculously immature mother for so many years. The part of her that used to find faults in Him – no – in _Edward_, the part of her that had marched through the swamp of her depression to give her a good kick in the pants.

'Thought I might have gained some value,' it ranted. 'Pathetic, clumsy, ugly and human.' She suddenly stopped her unconscious movement forward and stood stock still. '– and most of all _as long as he doesn't want me!_' even her mental voice rose in incredulousness.(1) 'What the hell am I thinking? Has Edward really come to affect that much of my life! It's almost like he was controlling my every action.' Anger began to feel its way into her emotions.

She began to think over the things he had just told her, her brow furrowing in thought. 'A toy? A distraction? He never loved me? Now that I think on it, when I came here quite a few guys fought over the chance to talk to me, so I can't be too unattractive, even if I'm not vampire beautiful. And so _what_ if I'm a bit clumsy; I know how to take care of myself anyway – I don't need anyone to protect me and make my decisions for me. And even though he struggled with himself for a while _Edward_ was the one who eventually decided to try to get to know me. I must have been something more than a mere distraction for Edward to fight against the call of my blood to be with me. He always made so _sure_ to tell me how hard it was for him to be around me so often, but did it anyway.' She frowned to herself. 'Always made sure to tell me how dangerous that he – no all of them – were, except for maybe Carlisle…' her thoughts trailed off again pondering her adopted family and wondering what they would do about this.

She suddenly blinked, looked up, and finally noticed her surroundings. She squeaked in shock, and then covered her mouth in embarrassment at making such a sound. "Oh My god…." She muttered under her breath, then a bit louder, "I'm lost, aren't I."

When nobody answered, not that she was expecting anyone to and it would be weird if someone actually had, she looked around trying to locate something familiar. The only thing she noticed of any significance was a clearing with a rather comfortable looking log in it a few meters away. She sighed and went to go sit on it, hoping her father would send out a rescue party sometime soon. (2)

.-.

Jasper sighed in relief when Bella finally sat down somewhere, and seemed to be waiting for someone to come find her. He thought back to why the hell he was out here in the first place, restraining Emmett – who was really heavy by the way – from jumping down and making an extremely bad impression of a knight in shining armor. (3)

_Flashback – earlier, before Edward left to see Bella_

_Jasper was sitting on the porch half sunbathing, half vaguely worrying about how Bella would take what was coming. Then he berated himself. Even though he didn't know her all that well – she was his brother's human girlfriend and he always seemed to get a bit snappish when Jasper got too close – he knew Bella was strong. She would get through it. _

_She would probably hurt for a long time though. He knew how much she loved Edward better than anyone else – he was an empath after all - but she would be alright. She would probably eventually forgive him for hurting her as well. He snorted softly. That's just the kind of person she was. If anything good came from of her 18__th__ birthday party, it was him learning that. She had forgiven him so very easily after all._

"_What are you thinking about Jazzy?" He looked up at his petite wife and gave her a small smile._

"_I'm just wondering how she'll take this. I know how much she loves him, but she also loves us." He made a quick gesture at her, the house and himself, indicating the whole family. "I think that us leaving without even saying goodbye might hurt her the most. So I'm worried."_

_Alice's eyes blanked out as she searched for Bella's reaction to the news. So far she had avoided doing so; afraid of seeing Bella's breakdown. She gasped as her eyes cleared more suddenly than usual. "Jasper?" she asked, turning to him. "This has never happened before. I watched her reaction, and she broke, as expected. But then she, and her future, disappeared for a moment after that. Will you go watch it, and her, afterward? I need to know if something is capable of interfering with my visions. It could be important."_

_Just as Jasper got up, nodded, and began to get ready to go, Emmett moved around the corner of the house he had been eavesdropping from. "I'm coming too. There's no way I'm not going to be there to protect my little sister if she needs it." He stated. They both knew there was no arguing when he was in this kind of mood and gave in gracefully._

"_Fine. But you better be quiet." Or maybe not so gracefully. Either way they were just glad there was nobody else in the house. _

_End Flashback_

So now here he was, sitting in a tree, and waiting for someone to come find her so he could get home. Emmett was getting more unbearable by the minute.

He began pondering her reaction, just to waste time. It certainly wasn't what he expected, but then when do things ever go as expected where Bella is concerned.

When Edward said all those immensely hurtful things to Bella he was hardly able to hold Emmett back from pounding him into a pulp, mostly because he was torn between the need to stay hidden, to send claming and healing waves of emotion to Bella, and to pound Edward into the ground myself.

Then when she finally realized he was really gone, and was going to stay that way, the overwhelming emotions of sadness and depression and disbelief almost bowled him over. That anyone could feel so many negative emotions at once and still stay standing astonished him. When she went into a kind of emotional shock and began stumbling into the woods he and Emmett immediately followed. Now that Edward was gone he began to send encouraging emotions to her, hoping to help her snap out of it a bit, while making sure she didn't hurt her self too bad and stopping Emmett from jumping out there to comfort her. This was something she needed to do alone.

A mere fifteen minutes later he began to feel a strange change in her emotions and was a bit surprised when she suddenly stopped walking and began to frown a bit. He was completely taken aback when she suddenly scowled. He felt a huge burst of anger, but just as suddenly as it appeared; it began to fade, replaced by such a swift changing of emotions that he couldn't follow them all. She finally settled and a mix of semi-confusion, curiosity, and worry.

He almost laughed aloud at her reaction to her finding herself somewhere so unrecognizable. That girl is always so amusing. He could feel Emmett relax beside him as well, but almost immediately had to grab him before he broke cover in order to go make a fool of himself. 'This is _not_ quiet!' he screamed to himself. Then he tensed and hissed at Emmett to calm down when he heard another human making his way unerringly to towards Bella.

.-.

When Sam Uely stepped silently into the clearing and examined the oblivious girl in front of him he was a bit less than impressed. He had only seen her once before of course, but he immediately recognized her from that day at the beach. He honestly didn't see why those leeches were so obsessed with her; she seemed like a normal, if rather pretty, seventeen year old girl. Then she looked up.

'Oh. So that's why.' Now that she was facing him fully with such a bright smile on her face he couldn't seem to look away. It, the smile that is, seemed to radiate such warmth and innocence and determination that he couldn't see why anyone wouldn't want to just bathe in it for eternity. It reminded him so much of the way his beloved Emily smiled before her hurt her so, that he had to look away for a minute. He coughed to clear his throat and then spoke with a slightly exasperated sigh.

"Do you have any idea how worried your dad is about you?"

.-.

"Do you have any idea how worried your dad is about you?" When he said that Bella felt such relief. She had been wondering how long she had been gone and was worried about how her father was taking her sudden disappearance as well.

"He sent you find me then?" she asked as she stood.

He nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm Sam Uely, from the reservation. When you didn't come back after an hour and he couldn't reach you because you left your cell phone at home," she blushed at that, "He called Billy Black and asked for help locating you."

She sighed with a bit of relief and embarrassment at that. "I'm sorry to trouble you- " she gasped a bit as she tripped over an invisible root and clenched her eyes in anticipation of pain.

When all she felt was a warm arm around her waist and a hand around her upper arm, she blushed in embarrassment, extremely glad there was no one around to see this. "Are you always this clumsy?" he asked as he set her on her feet.

She looked down and away. "Yes, sadly." There was an odd inflection in her voice that wasn't there before. He attempted to change the subject.

"So, how did you get lost anyway?" he questioned.

She sighed sadly yet again. Maybe that wasn't such a good question. Before he could attempt to retract it she replied. "My boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend now I guess, broke up with me. I really love him, even now, and I couldn't – still can't, really - understand why he would do something like that. So we got into a bit of a fight. He left eventually and I was feeling really depressed so I decided to take a walk to clear my head before I went back inside. As you can probably tell, I got lost while I was thinking things out."

He just nodded in response and they continued back towards Bella's house.

.-.

Up in the trees above them Jasper and Emmett quietly traveled, jumping from tree to tree. There was something off about this guy. They silently agreed to follow them both until Bella was safely back with Charlie.

.-.

When Charlie got home Bella wasn't there. She had left a note that she'd be taking a walk on the outskirts of the forest; but when over an hour had passed without a sign that she was on her way back he attempted to call her. When he found her phone ringing and buzzing like mad on her desk he called out a search party to look for her. With her luck she is probably in the heart of the forest by now.

It was now ten at night, and there still hasn't been a trace of her, and even though there is no apparent reason for it, He couldn't help but think that this is all that Edwin's fault. (4)

* * *

(1) Inner Bella is _pissed._

(2) Even with her non-existent self-preservation instincts Bella knows better than to move around too much when lost in the woods.

(3) Even though Emmett only sees her as a little sister, the opportunity to play the hero and then rub it in Edward's face is almost too much for the poor guy.

(4) He knows that it's really Edward but since he can't do much about his baby girl deciding that dating guys is a good thing, he can still have his fun by tormenting the ones she does decide to accept as much as possible - right 'Edwin'.

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Another Chapter for you, my wonderful readers! *ahem* -_- weeellll...on to the author's note then.

First: Everyone say banzai! for one of my longest chapters to date! I was actually going to make it longer, but I decided to cut it off here. And I know you all laughed at that last line.

Second: I have come to realize that it will definatly be a long time before Bella gets into any romance with Marcus. I want to do this so that she dosen't have any leftover issues with other guys and mad vampires trying to kill her.*coughVictoriacough*. I want her to be able to foucus on finding her own happiness by the time I get there. So be patient. At least you know my story is going to be long!

Last: Review! Please! I enjoy them so much and I really want to hear what you guys have to say about it. So again, please reveiw. It's so easy - just push the button, take a moment to write down your thoughts about my story so far, and submit. (you know I'm desprate when I walk you through it. I've only gotten 5 reveiws all said since I posted my last chapter. *cries*).

- Aljan Moonfire -


	6. A Decision

_**Aljan Moonfire Does Not Own Twilight...**_

_(God I hate these things; do people really think I would be posting this here if I did! *grumble*grumble*)_

(On another note, not much editing here either. I should be getting the next chapter out here soon though)

**ONWARD March, people!**

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**_Chapter 6:_**

_A Decision_

When Bella and Sam emerged from the woods on the north side of the house he raised his voice enough that anyone inside would easily be able to hear him. "Hey! Charlie! Everybody! I found her!"

Hearing the sounds of quite a few feet racing to burst out of the brightly lit house Bella braced herself for the coming storm, her eyes widening as she took in the people that had been waiting for her. Charlie was there, of course, along with Billy Black and another older Native American man. Jake was there too, along with some other younger Quiliette tribesmen.

"You found her! Where did you find her! Is she hurt?" the jumble of questions that spilled out of Charlie's mouth were looked on with amusement by the other older men, while Jake looked just as worried.

He then turned to her and his voice began to rise as well. "Isabella Marie Swan! What the hell were you thinking going into the woods by yourself! You know your sense of direction is just as bad as my mine!"

"I'm sorry dad. I wasn't alone at first. Edward –"

He cut her off at that "That Edwin just left you alone out there? When I get my hands on him I'll –"

This time she cut Charlie off. "No Dad, _Edward_, left me right on the verge; I could even still see the house. But he broke up with me today, and I was trying to clear my head with a walk when I got lost… I'm sorry."

He now could see that she looked more than a little down and tired. 'My little girl just had her first break up.' He thought sadly. '…Wait…that means no more Edward!' She was immediately forgiven. "Just be careful next time Bells, and I think you owe a thank you to all of these men for coming out to help me look for you."

She turned to look at the Quiliettes and blushed brightly. "Thank you, all of you, for coming out here to find me." She turned to Sam and thanked him as well. "Thank you as well Sam. You don't know how relieved I was when you found me." She gave him a soft smile and was a bit surprised when he blushed a bit, just like when she first looked up to see him.

"Yeah, well," he looked away and then back at her. "Since your home safe and sound we had better get going."

The group trooped around the house to the driveway and Bella and Charlie said their goodbyes and waved them off. When they were safely out of sight they turned away and went inside.

.-.

After Bella and Charlie finished their dinner Charlie turned to her and asked if she was okay.

"Yeah. As you can see," she gestured to herself, "I'm not hurt at all."

"You know that's not what I meant, Bella."

Her silence was answer enough. He sighed and gave her a brief hug. "Go to bed, honey. You might feel better in the morning."

She nodded and went upstairs. As she entered her room and began to get ready to go to bed she noticed that quite a few things were missing.

The CD of the lullaby Edward written for her.

All the clothes she had bought with Alice.

Everything given to her at that fateful birthday party.

As she noticed all of this she raced to look for her precious photo album. It was gone too. His words suddenly echoed in her head.

"_It will be as if I had never existed."_

She broke.

.-.

As sat they sat out in the tree and watched her sob herself to sleep in her pillow, Jasper and Emmett glared at the ground beneath them. They were furious, both with themselves, for their inability to comfort her, and with Edward for doing this to her in the first place.

Once he was sure Bella was asleep Jasper spoke. "We need to get back and tell them about this. Edward is probably long gone by this point, and we will probably still have to leave, but I know that with this we can at least convince Carlisle to let us tell her goodbye. We might even be able to get her a way to contact us if she's ever in trouble." 'I need to find her that photo album of hers either way,' he thought. Emmett just nodded in agreement.

Then they were gone.

.-.

When they got back to the house everyone, except for Edward, was waiting for them.

"Where have you boys been? We should have left over an hour ago." Carlisle was the first to speak immediately after they got in the door. Then seeing their grim faces he was immediately worried. "What happened?"

"Well I suppose I should start at the beginning. I'm surprised Alice didn't already tell you that part of it though."

They all looked at said woman, and if she could've they knew she would have blushed. "I wanted to know everything that had happened first and I didn't know how long you would take. That's part of the reason I sent you anyway."

Jasper nodded in agreement and turned to the rest of the family, who he could tell were extremely curious. "Well earlier this afternoon I was a bit worried about how Bella would take everything. Alice had been trying to avoid having a vision of, well…what would happen, but when she tried to have one in order to reassure me, something went wrong and it cut off, right?" he turned to Alice for confirmation, pulling her into his side where they sat on a love seat.

She nodded her agreement. "I had just seen their conversation, but almost immediately after it just went black. It was quite unnerving actually."

Emmett continued from there. "I was the only other person in the house then, and when Alice asked Jazz to go watch Bella in order to find out what happened and to protect her if she needed it; I refused to be left behind. If my little sister needed protection I was going to give it."

Jasper nodded and continued to give his version of the events that happened in the forest. When he got to the part where she sat down in the clearing Alice sat up straighter and interrupted.

"That was when my vision cut off. I don't know what happened after that, but…." She trailed off looking to Jasper to explain what he saw.

"Another human came. He was from the reservation, sent by Charlie, and he smelled really bad." Emmett interjected here, giving the short version.

Carlisle frowned in concern. "What exactly did he smell like?" he asked carefully.

Jasper thought for a moment and answered, "Like wet dog, or wolf." He frowned. "It was strange. I've never met a human who smelled anything like that before."

There was a moment of silence as they considered this. "Go on," Carlisle indicated he was to continue.

"Well, he introduced himself as Sam Uely and then guided her back to the house. We followed, and when he reached the house they were greeted by Charlie and some more Quiliettes."

From here Emmett interjected something "Now that I think on it I'm sure one or more of them smelled a lot like that Sam guy. Wet dog. Very unpleasant." He shuddered dramaticaly.

"Then Bella and Charlie waved the others off and they had dinner. When Bella went to get ready for bed though…" Jasper paused as if not sure what to say, but Emmett's next words said all they needed to hear.

"He took everything! Not just everything he ever gave her, but everything WE ever gave her and bought with her as well! He even took her photo album!" His tense grip broke the arm of the chair he was sitting in.

"When we discovered he did all that we realized some of the things he said to Bella were more than just things to make her want to break up with him as well."

At this Rosalie frowned a bit in confusion. "What kind of things could that love struck idiot have ever said to her that would really hurt her? We all know he dotes on her something terrible."

Jasper's mouth flattened into a grim line. "Things like 'You were just a distraction' or 'I don't want you' or, and this is what I meant, 'It will be like I never existed'." Gasps and growls filled the room. They all knew Bella well enough to know how she'd take that. That _Edward_, a person she'd loved beyond reason, would say something so hurtful, and then make all of them move away; that was just about unforgivable. "She ended up crying herself to sleep. If she knew that we'd abandon her without a second thought as well…" he hesitated here. "I really can't predict what she might do."

There was silence for awhile as they considered this. "Well, that creates two problems for us. One means it would be even more inadvisable for us to stay than it already is." As Carlisle said this everyone became confused.

Esme rested her hand on his arm. "What do you mean by that, dear?"

He sighed. "Remember what you told us? About the men who smelled like wet dogs?" He frowned a bit to himself and continued. "I have only scented people who smelled like that once before, when we first made the treaty with the Quiliette tribe. The chief of the tribe and a few others, they were werewolves. Not true werewolves like the ones on the continent, but they could shift their shape into that of a wolf at will. From what I know that's just what they call themselves."

"If the dormant gene that holds that power to change has been awakened by our mere presence here, it would be more than advisable for us to leave before it gets any worse." With that conclusion they shifted uneasily where they sat. They desperately wanted to stay, especially now that they knew what had really gone on between Edward and Bella.

Alice frowned in distress. "Do you think it could have been that wolf man who interfered with my vision? If so, as much as I don't want to, it gives us yet another reason to leave."

Esme sighed in agreement. "I agree, but if we do still have to leave, I say we wait until tomorrow and say goodbye."

Jasper then said firmly, "We should also tell her all the reasons why and give her a way to contact us if she's ever in trouble." They all made their reluctant agreements.

It was decided. They would leave tomorrow.

* * *

Another chapter for all of you and and a birthday party for me! I turn 17 today!...and I start colloge tomorrow. I don't know wether to be depressed or excited...well at least I get presents out of it all. On to the author's note, I guess. (Edit: This was orgininally posted at the begining of September by the way...)

First: No cliff notes this time...oh well...I really like writing them you know.

Second: I apologize for taking some time with this. Almost half of this chapter was a reacap of what happened in the last one, but it was nessesary for what I want to do next chapter; and it was getting a bit too long. I've been arguing with myslef for the past couple of days about wether or not to post as is...as you can see 'as is' won.

Third: I always hated the way the Cullens, all the Cullens, left Bella to fend for herself in New Moon. I always found the way they did things there to be very...wrong; especially after they let her have so much hope of a life with them. So next chapter I'll be fixing that.

Last: As always - REVEIWS! I really want some feedback here! Even if it's just to tell me to update soon or how much it sucked it would be more than nice.

- Aljan Moonfire -


	7. Explanations

_**Chapter 7:**_

_Explanations_

When Bella woke up the next morning she really didn't feel a whole lot better than she had the previous evening. Her eyes felt stiff and sore and she knew they were probably red from crying herself to sleep. She faintly realized that she had slept in her clothes from the day before. Sitting up slowly, she ran a hand through her hair. Suddenly realizing how messy it was, she reached out pull her alarm clock closer in order to check the time.

Seeing that it was past ten o'clock she was glad that it was the weekend and that she had nothing better to do than laze around the house. She really needed to relax a bit. What happened last night really wasn't helping her stress levels any either.

She remembered what had set her off then and scowled. This time she wasn't depressed and sad. This time she was angry. 'What right does that idiot have to steal my precious things? No matter what he might _want_ me to do they belong to _me_ and he has no right to take them away!'

Growling under her breath about stupid vampires, and sulking about having her personal space invaded such a way,* she stalked to the bathroom. She really needed a shower.

.-.

The doorbell rang just as Bella was finishing her breakfast. Getting up, she made her way to the front door. Still tired and in a rather bad mood she opened the door with a slight frown. When she saw who was on the other side she blinked in surprise.

Carlisle blinked back at her and coughed lightly. She suddenly noticed that she had been staring at him for a few rather uncomfortable moments. She reacted immediately and invited him in.

"Sorry," She apologized, "I wasn't expecting to see you." 'Especially after…what happened last night,' her thoughts continued.

"It's quite all right. I'd like to speak with you about a few things though." He paused a bit, "Is that alright?"

For him to come to her house like this she knew it must be important. Probably related to…what happened last night. She sighed slightly.

"Yeah," she gave him what felt like a weak attempt at a smile, "it's fine."

"Good." He looked slightly apprehensive** and she suddenly had a sinking feeling about what he wanted to talk about.

'Well, we might as well get this over with. I have a feeling I'll want to be sitting down for this.'

"We can go sit in the kitchen if you like?"

He simply nodded and relaxed a bit as she lead him to where she had just finished eating.

.-.

"So, let me get this straight," Bella stared in shock and confusion at the vampire sitting across from her, "After what happened at my birthday party Edward somehow came to the conclusion that it was far too dangerous for me to keep hanging around you guys, even after what happened in Phoenix?"

He nodded.

"So he decided to break up with me and somehow convinced most of the family that it would be a good idea to leave me here alone?"

He nodded.

"But Jasper was worried about how I would react since he knew how much I love him? So Alice attempted to have a vision, which was somehow interrupted, in order to reassure him? And he and Emmett ended up watching my entire breakup?"

He once again nodded wordlessly, and Bella began to get a bit angry. She didn't mind that her 'brothers' were concerned about her, but that wasn't something she would have wanted other people to witness if she'd had a choice.

"And when they went to tell you everything that had happened you _still_ decided to leave? Why?"

He sighed, but nodded again and began to give all of the reasons that they were leaving.

"Despite, maybe even because of, everything that has happened between you and Edward we know that you are strong enough to get through this; even if we aren't there." He looked a bit sad as he said that last part.

"We love you." He said seriously, looking her straight in the eye. "We all do in our own way; but there are other reasons for us to leave as well."

"What do you mean?"

"When we first found this place, over a hundred years ago now, we made a treaty with the local tribe. The Quiliettes."

"I remember something about this," she interjected. "When I was trying to figure out what you all were I managed to get Jake," She noticed he looked a bit puzzled at the name, "Jacob Black, he's Billy Black's son. I played with him a lot when I was little and came up here to visit my father."

"Well," she continued, "I managed to get him to tell me why you guys weren't allowed on the reservation. It was a legend about what they called the Cold Ones," She nodded at him, "and…werewolves, I think." Her eyes suddenly widened. "You can't mean that -"

"Yes; that part of the tale is true too. The Quiliette people have a dormant gene that allows them to shift into wolves at will; unlike the werewolves of Europe."

"You mean there are real werewolves?"

"Yes, they are called 'The Children of the Moon' for obvious reasons. The wolves here are entirely different creatures. For one they are able to change at will; instead of being forced into it by the moon. They also, unlike the weres of Europe, have a very pack oriented culture. It's also genetic instead of being passed on like a virus."

"What I didn't realize," he continued, realizing he had gotten a bit off track, "is that apparently just fairly close proximity to vampires, even ones like us, is enough to activate the gene. It's very likely that most, if not all, of the teenagers descended from the original pack members are, or soon will be, able to shift. Because of the size of our family if we stay any longer even the children will begin to shift."

"This is the first time we've really spent an extended period of time here. We honestly had no idea something like this would happen. However; to get _children_ involved in this simply because we don't want to move away from you? We can't do that. The others will be coming by at some point today as well to say goodbye, and give you back your things. I honestly have no idea what that boy was thinking when he took them from you." He muttered the last part under his breath, and then continued.

"The other reason I already mentioned; you remember what I said about Alice's vision being interrupted?" She nodded in confirmation, "Well I believe it had to do with the person who found you. From Jasper and Emmett's description I think it's safe to assume that that Uely boy is a shifter. If they are able to avoid, and even black out Alice's visions it would be safer to move away."

She nodded in understanding. She knew that Alice's visions were a part of her and to have them interfered with in such a way would unnerve both her and, on a smaller scale, the rest of the Cullens.

"We will leave you a way to contact us of course. Email addresses, phone numbers. You have to understand that this was a very hard decision for us to make. If you are ever in trouble though, contact us immediately." She opened her mouth to protest, but quieted when held up his hand to silence her. "Even if you don't end up with Edward after all, you have become a part of our family. You will never be a burden and we will always love you." He gave her one of those brilliant and gentle smiles of his and pushed a list of contact information towards her across the table.

At this last her eyes began to water and she wiped away some tears. Ever since she realized how far Edward would go to make her forget about him, this is what she was the most worried about. That the first real family that she'd ever really had would abandon her; like he did. As much as she loved Charlie and Renee she had never been able to truly think of them as parents; people that would take care of her, that would comfort her, that always knew just the right thing to say to cheer her up. She had found that in Carlisle and Esme and the rest.

That Edward would try to take that away from her hurt her more than she would ever admit. A part of her would never forgive him for it. In that moment she knew that things would never be the same between her and Edward. For him to betray her and her trust so thoroughly, even if he was trying in his own messed up way to protect her, was unforgivable.

But her family, and now she truly felt like they were her family, wouldn't abandon her. They would help her through this as much as they were able; he had even implied that they would leave everything they were doing at the drop of a hat to come to her aid if she needed them. That was something she had never had before, and she was immeasurably grateful for it.

"Thank you."

.-.

Carlisle left soon after that. He knew that she probably still had some unresolved issues from everything that had happened in the last few days, but he knew that she would get through it. Hopefully the rest of his children would be able to help her with them.

What he hadn't told her, or any of the rest of his family for that matter – though he knew Esme could tell something was wrong, was his biggest reason for leaving Forks. The Volturi. He knew what would happen if Aro or Caius ever learned of her existence.

The tribe was one thing; after all they weren't exactly human themselves, but Bella was another. Despite her strange mind shield Bella was all too human and he, more than anyone, knew the consequences for breaking the laws. In fact, said shield would probably make them all the more determined to turn her.

The thought of what might happen to Bella if she was turned and kept by the Volturi made him frown in apprehension. He knew the horror stories sometimes told about what happened in their ranks. He also knew that some of them were quite true. He would do all he could to prevent that from happening.

Even if, eventually, he had to turn her himself.

* * *

* - You can be sure that she would never term it sulking though. Brooding, maybe, but never sulking.

** - After a year of hanging around vampires almost constantly she had grown quite adept at reading into what they were feeling; she was no Jasper though.

* * *

~ Author's Note ~

Done! Here's that chapter I promised you all. I hope you enjoyed it. I should be able to post another one relatively soon. (If I'm not belted over the head with a writer's block,) It should be out by the weekend, (I hope).

Well then, you should know the drill by now; **review**, _review_, and **_review_** some more, people!

- Aljan Moonfire -


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